The present invention relates generally to panel doors, and more particularly to panel pet doors for insertion into sliding glass doors.
Panel pet doors for sliding glass doors are pet doors designed to fit in the space that results when a sliding glass door is partially opened (or, also, the resulting space when a stationary panel is moved to one side). The advantage to this type of pet door is that it does not require cutting a hole through, and thereby ruining, a door.
There are three dimensions that are critical to accommodating the animal(s) that will be using a panel pet door: width of a flap opening, height of the flap opening and, just as important, rise. The rise is defined as the height of a bottom edge of the flap above a base of the panel door. For a most comfortable fit, the top edge of the flap should be about the same height as the pet at the top of the withers (top of the shoulder). Customarily, panel pet door flaps have not been designed to be that height. Rather, the flap is raised up off the ground (the rise) so as to get the flap opening about even with the trunk of the pet""s body. Short dogs would prefer a shorter rise and taller dogs need a higher rise. For example, currently a pet door company manufactures a xe2x80x9clargexe2x80x9d pet door with a flap that measures 10xc3x9715 inches with a 5 inch rise. They also offer a xe2x80x9clarge/tallxe2x80x9d pet door using the same flap, but with a 9 inch rise.
It would be beneficial to a consumer to offer the largest sizes in at least three or four different rises and for medium and small/medium sizes to be offered in at least two rises. It would also be beneficial to offer customers ways to change the size of the flap door and/or rise, such as when a dog changes size over time, e.g., grows from a puppy into a mature dog. Heretofore, the only way a manufacturer could offer multiple rise options was by building and maintaining an inventory of separate panel pet door sizes for each rise option.
It would also be beneficial to offer customers ways to change the size of the flap door in addition to adjusting the height of the rise, all without replacing the entire panel pet door. Common circumstances which would make this desirable occur when, for example, the owner of a taller dog acquires a short dog (desiring to preserve the height of the present flap, but shorten the rise.), or vice versa. Also, if an owner""s dog becomes injured the dog may benefit from a lower rise and/or a taller flap.
There is thus a need in the art for a panel pet door that provides a way to offer customers different height and rise combinations of the pet door flap without having to manufacture a separate panel pet door for each combination, and provides a way for customers to adjust the rise and height of the pet door flap without having to replace an entire panel pet door.
The present invention advantageously addresses the needs above as well as other needs by providing a panel door and method of adjusting the panel door.
In one embodiment, the invention can be characterized as a panel door assembly comprising a panel door frame, an entrance portal assembly mounted on the panel door frame that is vertically slidable on the panel door frame and a spacer panel mounted on the panel door frame that is vertically slidable on the frame.
In another embodiment, the invention can be characterized as a the panel door assembly described above further comprising at least one additional spacer panel mounted on the panel door frame that is vertically slidable on the panel door frame, a total number of spacer panels mounted on the panel door frame comprising a plurality of vertically slidable spacer panels.
In another embodiment, the invention can be characterized as a method of adjusting an entrance of a panel door assembly comprising the steps of sliding vertically at least one spacer panel and an entrance portal assembly out of a panel door frame of the panel door assembly and sliding vertically at least one spacer panel and the entrance portal assembly into the panel door frame in a configuration such that the entrance portal is at a different height from a bottom of the panel door frame.
In another embodiment, the invention can be characterized as a method of adjusting an entrance of a panel door assembly comprising the steps of sliding vertically at least one spacer panel and a first entrance portal assembly out of a panel door frame of the panel door assembly and sliding vertically a second entrance portal assembly of a different height than the first into the panel door frame.
In yet another embodiment, the invention can be characterized as a method of adjusting an entrance of a panel door assembly comprising the steps of sliding vertically a first entrance portal assembly out of a panel door frame of the panel door assembly and sliding vertically a second entrance portal assembly of a different height than the first and at least one spacer panel into the panel door frame.
A better understanding of the features and advantages of the present invention will be obtained by reference to the following detailed description of the invention and accompanying drawings which set forth an illustrative embodiment in which the principles of the invention are utilized.